Ohio Republicans declare war on IUD’s

(Reason)- Ohio Republicans are backing a bill aimed at restricting abortion access, as they do. One of the interesting/atrocious things about this one is that it would—in the service of reducing abortions—make it harder for women to get the most long-acting form of birth control short of sterilization, the intrauterine device (IUD).

The first hearing for House Bill 351, sponsored by Cincinnati Republican Rep. John Becker, was held yesterday. At the hearing, Becker said insurance plans should be barred from covering IUDs because preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg—which IUDs could theoretically do, though they primarily work by preventing sperm from getting to that egg in the first place—could be considered abortion.